The Benefits of VBT
Velocity-based training (VBT) is a training method that has gained popularity in the last twenty years, and for good reason. It is a highly effective way to train athletes and individuals looking to improve their performance. VBT is a training method that uses the speed of movement as the primary metric to determine the appropriate training load for an athlete or individual. In this blog post, we will discuss the benefits and importance of velocity-based training.
What is Velocity-Based Training (VBT)?
Velocity-based training is a training method that uses velocity as the primary metric to determine the appropriate training load for an athlete or individual. It involves measuring the speed at which an athlete lifts a weight or performs a movement and then adjusting the load accordingly. By doing so, it ensures that the athlete is always training at the appropriate intensity, which maximizes the benefits of the training.
The use of velocity as a training metric has gained popularity in recent years due to advancements in technology that have made it easier to measure and track an athlete's velocity. The technology used in VBT includes linear position transducers, accelerometer-based devices, and various software applications. These devices are used to measure the velocity of movement, which provides immediate feedback to the athlete and coach, enabling them to adjust the training load on the spot.
Benefits of Velocity-Based Training
Improves Performance
One of the primary benefits of velocity-based training is that it can improve an athlete's performance significantly. VBT enables athletes to train at the appropriate intensity, which ensures that they are training optimally to achieve their desired performance outcomes. By adjusting the training load based on an athlete's velocity, it ensures that the athlete is always pushing themselves to their limit, which is necessary for achieving improvements in performance.
Reduces Injury Risk
Another benefit of VBT is that it can reduce the risk of injury. By training at the appropriate intensity, VBT reduces the risk of overtraining or undertraining, which are two common causes of injury. Additionally, VBT provides immediate feedback on an athlete's performance, allowing coaches to adjust the training load to prevent injury. By identifying and correcting performance issues, coaches can help athletes train safely and prevent injury.
Provides Immediate Feedback
Another significant benefit of VBT is that it provides immediate feedback to the athlete and coach. The use of technology in VBT allows coaches to monitor an athlete's performance in real-time, which enables them to adjust the training load on the spot. By doing so, coaches can ensure that the athlete is always training at the appropriate intensity, which maximizes the benefits of the training.
Maximizes Training Efficiency
VBT also maximizes training efficiency. By training at the appropriate intensity, athletes can achieve maximum gains in the shortest amount of time possible. This is because training at the appropriate intensity allows for optimal muscle recruitment and adaptation, which is necessary for improving performance. Additionally, VBT allows coaches to adjust the training load on the spot, which saves time and ensures that athletes are not wasting their time training at the wrong intensity.
Individualizes Training
Another benefit of VBT is that it individualizes training. Every athlete is unique, and their training needs will vary depending on their performance goals, strengths, and weaknesses. VBT allows coaches to individualize training by adjusting the training load based on an athlete's velocity. This ensures that each athlete is training at the appropriate intensity for their individual needs, which maximizes the benefits of the training.
Importance of Velocity-Based Training
Individualization
The importance of VBT lies in its ability to personalize or individualize training. Every athlete is different and has unique needs. VBT allows coaches to individualize training by adjusting the training load based on an athlete's velocity. This ensures that each athlete is training at the appropriate intensity for their individual needs, which maximizes the benefits of the training. Personalization is essential because it ensures that athletes are not wasting their time training at the wrong intensity, which can be counterproductive and slow down progress.
Safety
Another important aspect of VBT is safety. Overtraining and undertraining can lead to injury and slow down progress. VBT ensures that athletes are training at the appropriate intensity, which reduces the risk of injury and maximizes the benefits of the training. By providing immediate feedback, coaches can adjust the training load to prevent injury, which is critical to the long-term success of an athlete.
Efficiency
Efficiency is also an important aspect of VBT. By training at the appropriate intensity, athletes can achieve maximum gains in the shortest amount of time possible. VBT allows coaches to adjust the training load on the spot, which saves time and ensures that athletes are not wasting their time training at the wrong intensity. This is critical for athletes who have limited time to train, such as those who are balancing training with work or school.
Objectivity
VBT also provides an objective measure of an athlete's performance. By using velocity as a training metric, coaches can monitor an athlete's progress objectively, which is essential for determining whether an athlete is making progress towards their performance goals. This is particularly important for athletes who are training for a specific event or competition, as they need to know whether they are making progress towards their performance goals.
Versatility
Finally, VBT is a versatile training method that can be used for a wide range of exercises and movements. VBT can be used for strength training, power training, and speed training, making it a useful tool for athletes in a variety of sports. Additionally, VBT can be used for both novice and advanced athletes, making it a versatile tool for coaches who work with athletes at different levels of skill and experience.
Conclusion
Velocity-based training is a highly effective training method that has gained popularity in recent years. VBT uses velocity as the primary metric to determine the appropriate training load for an athlete, which ensures that they are always training at the appropriate intensity. The benefits of VBT include improved performance, reduced injury risk, immediate feedback, maximized training efficiency, and individualized training. The importance of VBT lies in its ability to personalize training, promote safety, maximize efficiency, provide an objective measure of performance, and versatility. VBT is a versatile training method that can be used for a wide range of exercises and movements, making it a useful tool for athletes in a variety of sports. If you're looking to improve your performance or work with athletes to help them achieve their performance goals, VBT is a training method that is worth considering.
Read more about Perch here! And check out Product Videos here. And our support website here.
Back to basics? Review the origins of VBT and Strength Training!
Sources
1. Mann, B. (2015). The benefits of velocity-based training. Stack. Retrieved from https://www.stack.com/a/the-benefits-of-velocity-based-training
2. National Strength and Conditioning Association. (2021). Velocity-Based Training. Retrieved from https://www.nsca.com/education/articles/tsac-report/velocity-based-training/
3. Pareja-Blanco, F., Rodríguez-Rosell, D., Sánchez-Medina, L., Sanchis-Moysi, J., Dorado, C., & Mora-Custodio, R. (2017). Effects of velocity-based resistance training on young soccer players of different ages. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 31(5), 1321-1329.
4. Banyard, H. G., Nosaka, K., Haff, G. G., & Tsukamoto, T. (2017). Effects of the velocity of resistance exercise on muscle damage and muscle strength. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35(20), 1977-1982.
5. Comfort, P., Haigh, A., & Matthews, M. J. (2012). Are changes in maximal squat strength during preseason training reflected in changes in sprint performance in rugby league players?. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 26(3), 772-776.
6. Looney, D. P., Kraemer, W. J., Joseph, M. F., Comstock, B. A., Denegar, C. R., & Flanagan, S. D. (2016). Electromyographical and kinetic analysis of traditional, chain, and elastic band squats. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(9), 2579-2587.
Further Reading
This AI is Taking Over the Sports World
This AI is Taking Over the Sports World... Every now and then, the sports world gets introduced to a new technology that absolutely changes the game. With professional sport currently operating at a more competitive level than ever, we have a question for you all. What’s the most important factor for teams to focus on?
NBA Teams Embrace AI Weightlifting Tech From Perch
NBA's Nets, Pistons, Heat and Magic using Perch's AI-powered weight training platform
Meet the BostInno 2023 Fire Awards Honorees
They may work out of a Cambridge office, but Perch is working on the field, pitch, and court. A growing number of teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, and NCAA use Perch’s AI-backed weight training platform to monitor player movements during exercises and enhance their motivation, safety, and performance.
Perch Revolutionizing the Way MLS Teams Train in Weight Room
U of L men’s basketball has been utilizing an AI-backed weight training platform this offseason
U of L men’s basketball has been utilizing an AI-backed weight training platform this offseason. The next time Louisville men’s basketball takes the court, how they fare will, in large part, depend on the play of their revamped roster. But their success also hinges on a new AI-backed weight training platform.
Burning Questions with New England Based Innovators: Perch’s Founder, Jacob Rothman
Jacob Rothman and his co-founder created Perch, a company with the goal of making the world a stronger place. Perch enables athletes and coaches to effortlessly quantify weight room performance through a camera enabled device and software. This provides groundbreaking insights to their clientele through the use of AI in their tech stack.
The Future of Sports: Jacob Rothman of Perch On The New Emerging Technologies That Are Disrupting The World Of Sports
Asa part of this interview, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jacob Rothman, co-founder of Perch. Jacob Rothman was an MIT varsity athlete when he herniated a disc in his back during a routine workout. While recovering from his injury, he started to brainstorm ideas for a device that could help athletes better quantify workouts in the weight room
Perch Weight Room Technology Launches Rack Integration with Life Fitness and PLAE
Perch – the first and only piece of weight room technology built for athletes and coaches – has announced a weight rack integration launch with Life Fitness and PLAE, giving users of the equipment an opportunity to elevate their weight room experience by quantifying performance with velocity-based training.
How college football's national champion Georgia Bulldogs are leveraging Perch's 3D camera in the weight room
Perch Announces Investment Partnership with Miami Dolphins CB Byron Jones
Jacob Rothman revolutionizing sports industry with Perch
The journey through life offers many twists and turns. For 2016 MIT graduate Jacob Rothman, his journey has helped him become a revolutionary in the sports and tech world. Rothman first fell in love with sports, specifically baseball, in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was one of the most popular sports where he grew up.
Perch Raises $4 Million Funding Round
Perch, an MIT-developed technology that is helping a growing number of professional and collegiate athletic programs improve overall performance in the weight room and on the field, today announced the raise of a $4 million financing round. This brings the total amount raised by the company to $6 million since the company’s founding in 2017.
Perch Raises $4m For 3d Strength Tracking
Velocity-based training is flexing its strength. For context: Tried and true, for decades, strength and conditioning revolved around percentage-based training — where intensity and load are prescribed relative to an athlete’s one-rep maximum weight. Now, new research suggests that velocity-based training (VBT)—focused on measuring and improving...
Train Smarter With This Cambridge Startup’s Weight Room Tech
A new technology is coming to the weight room. Founded by three MIT athletes, Cambridge-based Perch uses computer vision and machine learning algorithms to monitor an athlete’s movements during exercise in the gym. The startup recently raised a $4 million round from investors like Bradley Bloom, Ledgeways Ventures LLC and Byron Jones...
Weightlifting Camera And Data Company Perch Raises $4 Million Funding Round With Miami Dolphins’ Bryon Jones Among New Investors
Weightlifting camera and data company Perch has raised a new $4 million funding round that includes investment from Miami Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones. Perch makes a 3D camera that straps to weight racks to track an athlete’s movements as they lift, including calculating sets, reps, velocity, and power output via Perch’s connected app.
Perch Is Changing The Game Of Velocity-based Training
Dubbed as an “invaluable addition” to their training program by the Orlando Magic, weight training platform Perch has pulled in a number of new users in NFL and NCAA football and basketball teams. Among those teams include the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baylor Bears (Men’s Basketball), and North Carolina Tar Heels.
Spotlight: Perch Offers A New Type Of Fitness Tracker
Tech entrepreneurs are disrupting the fitness industry in a number of ways. One of the most prominent is the production of devices that can measure steps and other vitals. But these are often geared more toward cardio exercises. Now, Perch offers something similar for strength training exercises. Read about this new innovation in this week’s...
.avif)
Training Like The Pros: Glenbrook South Using Mit-developed Tech
Glenbrook South is one of a few high schools in the country utilizing equipment adopted by the NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS, NBA and NCAA. The GBS athletic program installed some new state-of-the-art technology in the weight room last summer. With a fall sports season about to conclude, Perch has been paying off.
To Protect And Progress: Glenbrook South Student-athletes Lifting Faster, Smarter, Thanks To New Weight Room Tech
This school year Glenbrook South implemented a new piece of equipment in its weight room designed to monitor and improve training results without beating people up. The MIT-developed Perch system consists of a 3D camera that straps to a weight rack -- it's on all 14 racks in Glenbrook South's weight room -- and a computer...
Exclusive: Saints Install Perch’s 3D Camera Technology
The New Orleans Saints have become the latest client for the 3D camera technology in their workout facility. The technology helped to propel LSU to their 2019 National Championship. Perch co-founder Jacob Rothman recently met with the New Orleans Saints and head strength and conditioning coach Dan Dalrymple. Perch installed their 3D camera...
How the Saints are using 3D cameras and motion tracking in the weight room to gain an edge
The New Orleans Saints are not necessarily trying to make bionic men, but they are feeling around on technology’s leading edge to help their players uncover their peak form in the weight room. So, roll with Saints longtime strength and conditioning coach Dan Dalrymple as he puts on his best cinematic voice. “We have,” he said with a dramatic...
Terps Install 3D Cameras On Weight Racks To Assure Safe Lifting
The University of Maryland Terrapins football team installed 3D cameras on its weight racks this month to help student-athletes lift safely. The cameras track their movements and help the players achieve proper form. This could reduce the risk of lifting injuries. The technology, called Perch, was developed by a former varsity athlete at the...
LSU Football Trainer Jack Marucci Transitioning to Director of Performance Innovation
LSU is in the market for another key position on its staff. On Wednesday the program announced that longtime Director of Athletic Training Jack Marucci, would be transitioning to a new role within the athletic department. Marucci will take over as Director of Performance Innovation for the program, where his primary focus will be to hone in on...
Meet Perch, the new weight room staple that’s becoming a game-changer in the SEC and beyond
Jacob Rothman wasn’t a massive college football fan. He was just your standard MIT graduate/ex-college baseball player who wanted to change the way people lifted weights. But when longtime LSU strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt made the Tigers the first collegiate or professional sports team to roll the dice on Rothman’s new...
Perch Weight Room Tech Added to More NFL, College Football Facilities
The Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, Ole Miss Rebels and Georgia Bulldogs are the newest professional and college football teams to equip their exercise facilities with Perch, an AI-backed weight training platform that tracks performance during workouts. Those teams join the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins and LSU Tigers...
Weight Room Technology Boosts Sports Performance
In weight rooms across the country, top-flight sports teams are generating data from student-athletes beyond just how much weight is on the bar and how many times they can lift it. "Right now, you go to the weight room and you lift weights, the information you have access to is your sets, your reps and how much weight you moved," says...
MIT spinoff brings artificial intelligence to the weight room
In January, 2019, a Cambridge startup called Perch sold the Louisiana State University football team on a new weight training system that uses video cameras and artificial intelligence software to boost athletic performance. One year later, the Tigers won the national championship of college football.
Pro And College Teams Use New Workout Device That Enables ‘Smart’ Weight Racks
Jacob Rothman, a first and third baseman at MIT, herniated a disc in his back while doing a warm-up set of squats during the summer after his freshman year. Though that helped end his baseball career, it helped launch a new technology. He and two fellow MIT students started working on Perch in 2016. With Rothman’s own physical therapy and...
Perch is Reinventing the Weight Rack and Helping Athletes Train Smarter
An MIT-developed technology is helping a growing number of players and coaches – including those in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, and Power Five conferences – improve overall performance in the weight room and on the field. Named Perch, the device uses a combination of cameras and machine learning to monitor movements during exercise and enhance...
LSU Football Strength Coach Tommy Moffitt Recaps First Week of Workouts, How Technology Has Helped in Return
Technology like Perch allows coaches and athletes to determine the speed of movement in real time and adjust the weight or exercise accordingly. "Using the velocity-based system we have, Perch, we knew all of the sets and all of the reps and all of the velocities the guys were doing before we left."
An Inside Look at the Technology That Will Help LSU Football Return to Peak Physical Condition
Discovering a baseline for each athlete—whether it's an incoming freshman or a returning player—is just another way in which the Perch technology will help LSU in the coming weeks as it attempts to get its players back in shape. What Perch allows is for strength coaches like Moffitt and Jacobs, as well as each individual athlete, to find the...
LSU Is Winning the Weight-Room Arms Race With Real-Time Data
Three weeks after Perch installed units on each of the 22 weight racks at LSU’s indoor football facility on Oct. 1, Tigers coach Ed Orgeron said he noticed differences in his team’s performance on the field. “I think our guys are stronger and quicker and faster,” he said in late October. “I think as the season goes on, there’s not as many...
Start Gathering Data With Perch Today!
Reach out to us to speak with a representative and get started using Perch in your facility.